One of the biggest annoyances comic book fans can face is when a story is stretched out across many issues. This can leave readers frustrated by having to wait another month for the conclusion to a cliffhanger, having to buy so many issues to finish a story, or by pacing issues that can arise if a story is stretched out to last too long.
The one issue stories segment of this blog aim to look at stories that are neatly wrapped into one issue, so that anyone reading this blog can see where they can find a good story without having to buy too many comics.
Naturally I chose to start this segment with a comic that serves as the opening chapter in a three issue story, wait what?
Now I know I am probably losing but please allow me to explain before you comment or stop reading. Yes Green Lantern #48 is only part one of the three part "Emerald Twilight" story, but in my opinion #48 is not only much better than either #49 or #50 it actually works as its own story. In my opinion you can still enjoy a more or less complete story if you only read #50 (plus you get to avoid seeing Hal Jordan turn evil).
See? There is method to my seemingly complete lack of regard for my own segment topics.
Firstly I will start with some background.
As many people know Superman was killed off and brought back to life in the 92. What less people know however is that during the story arc that dealt with this series of events the hometown of Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) was destroyed by two of Superman's villains.
Green Lantern 48# picks up in the wake of this destruction. We open the comic to find Hal Jordan kneeling in the crater of what was once his home. Since Hal's ring gives him the power to create anything that he imagines he uses it in an attempt to restore his city and all of its former inhabitants. The majority of the issue focuses on Hal Jordan exploring the projection of the city that he has created and interacting with ghost like projections of people from his past.
There isn't any action in this issue, rather the issue is used to explore the thoughts and feelings of its central protagonist. I know that action is one of the main draws of superhero comics but sometimes it is nice to read a comic that serves as a breather between issues. Hal's feelings are made all the more relevant by the fact that his ring is powered and directed by his emotion (namely his willpower). It is in my opinion, an excellent study in the nature of grief and revisiting the past. In trying to bring back the home that he lost Hal is attempting something that we wish have wished we could do at one point or another. Hal finally says what he always wanted to say to his first love, he gets to have one more talk with his late father and get some answers on what his father would have thought of the man that Hal became.
In my opinion this issue could have been the foundation of a truly great story, and everything that is wrong Emerald Twilight is down to the two issues that follow.
Now it is true that Hal spends the last part of the issue already intending his infamous assault on the Green Lantern Corp, but I believe this would have been fine if #49 had gone a different way. When his ring runs out of juice Hal is brought painfully back into reality. He is immediately desperate to return to the world that he has created and he sees the Guardians as getting in the way of that. I believe that it is only fitting for the story that he would be a bit hostile at this point because he is essentially a wounded animal, trapped in his own pain. Had the following issues had him lose to the corps and be forced to come to terms with his loss the story would have been all the better for it.
Green Lantern #48 uses the abilities of its titular hero to explore upon feelings that will affect us all at some point or another throughout our lives. Hal struggles with his loss and tries in his own way to reconnect with the past. While his actions in the issues are not heroic they are certainly sympathetic.
All of this explains why Green Lantern #48 is good, but not quite why it deserves to be thought of as a single issue story. In order for that to be true it would have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end all in that issue and tell a complete story. So if we were to remove #49 and #50 what are we left with?
We have a story that starts with Hal's loss and his reaction to that loss. We move on to his attempts to process his grief and the story concludes when the he is interrupted by the outside world and finds that he is unable to cope. It isn't a happy ending but I maintain that that it has all the basic ingredients for a complete story. Admittedly it ends on a cliffhanger but I do not believe that fact is enough to disqualify it own its own.
Green Lantern #48 not only does justice to the universal themes that it explores, it does so in only one issue. That is why it is the first comic that I am recommending as a one shot story.
